Gimme Gimme (That Thing Called Love)
by It'sMe-AshleyMarie
Summary: Kate Beckett chooses reason over romance. Rick Castle thinks he has it good. When they meet through the walls of the music room, it turns out that Kate needs that thing called love and Rick really has it bad. Though highs and lows, tears and laughter, will they get a happy ever after? Rated M for safety.


Gimme Gimme (That Thing Called Love)

Kate Beckett would choose reason over romance any day of the week; it's just who she was. The "new woman" and all that. Of course, she had dated some boys in her four years, but she never had a real high school love like her other friends. Kate could land a man, but none of them were really her type, so here she was, a senior in high school, headed off to Stanford for law in three months, single.

Some would say Kate was married to her work, but she actually did like to have a good time outside the classroom, just not in the way she would have imagined. At the end of the previous semester, the spring musical was announced: _Thoroughly Modern Millie._ Lanie Parish, future forensic pathologist and one of Kate's best friends, somehow convinced Kate to audition for the musical because she wanted to.

"Oh, come on, Kate! It'll be fun, and you can totally sing this! Don't think I haven't heard you sing in the shower, girl."

"Okay, so I'm an international pop star in the _privacy of my shower_ , but that doesn't mean I can get up and sing in front of a bunch of people like that. Do you have any idea how intimidating that is?" Lanie gave Kate a disbelieving look.

"You did it once, so you can do it again."

"Yeah, but I was different back then, and—"

"Nope, I don't wanna hear it. I'm not letting you out of this. Do you know how perfect you would be for Millie? She sings, acts, tap dances, and, hell, she's so much like you!" Lanie bubbled with excitement, and Kate scoffed.

"The _lead_? You're kidding, right? I cannot play the lead! Do you have any idea how that would look, someone like me beating out a bunch of talented theater kids?"

"Well, I guess you'll just have to work that much harder to impress the director, won't you? Come on, we've gotta get you ready for this audition next week! No time to lose!" Lanie dragged Kate into a music practice room and had her listen to Millie's musical numbers, and Kate sang along to the audition cuts for each of her songs.

* * *

Richard Castle, closeted writer and resident playboy, wandered the halls of the music building in search of a vacant room to practice in. Maybe it was because his mother was a Broadway star and Tony nominated actress that he developed a passion for singing. The late nights in grade school when his mother would practice songs while he tried to do his homework piqued his interest in singing, and eventually, his mother's training led him to become vocally talented as well.

When he heard that the spring musical was _Thoroughly Modern Millie_ , he jumped at the opportunity to perform in one of his mother's favorite shows (and secretly, his too.) He loved the part of Trevor Graydon, the fast-talking boss at Sincere Trust Insurance Company but a hopeless romantic too, and he was sure he could snag that part. Rick worked constantly singing at a mile a minute for "The Speed Test" and felt confident for the audition. He played it safe auditioning for something he knew he could get.

From the hall, he heard a sweet female voice coming from one of the practice rooms belting out the lyrics to "Not for the Life of Me." So, she's going for Millie, huh? Interesting. Rick listened a bit more when she got into the meat of the song.

 _"Burn the bridge, bet the store. Baby's coming home no more. Not for the life of me. A life that's gotta be more than a one-light town where the light is always red. Gotta be more than an old ghost town where the ghost ain't even dead!"_

Solid belt this girl had, and Rick smiled just listening to the joy in her voice. He peeked into the practice room and saw her singing, brown hair with honey-colored highlights, slim and fair, bathed in the sunlight streaming in from the window. Extraordinary.

Her friend clapped for her and gave her a hug. The two girls laughed and shared exuberant smiles.

"Kate, that was so awesome! You got this, girl. I promise, you have nothing to worry about." Kate. Extraordinary Kate. Rick knocked on the door politely and opened it to find his Kate facing the door.

"Can I come in," Rick asked, poking his head in the door, and the girls ushered him in. Wow, he was pretty handsome! Tall, great hair, charming smile, and crystal blue eyes were the first things Kate noticed about this guy. _I'd totally date him_ , she thought. Shit, did she really just think that?! "I heard one of you singing from outside the hall."

"You heard that," Kate sheepishly muttered, a slight blush creeping over her cheeks.

"That was you? Wow, nice! I'm just gonna take this space from you, if you don't mind. Seems like everyone decided to do this today." The guy strode over to the window and opened it, completely ignoring the girls. _On second thought . . ._ "It's a little stuffy in here, don't you think?" Kate finally found the nerve to speak and stared at the guy who just invaded her space.

"It wasn't stuffy until you walked in," Kate quipped. "And anyway, who said we were done in here?" Rick turned back to Kate, who stood with her hands on her hips and a glare trained between his eyes.

"Feisty, are we? It just looked like you were finished in here." Kate stepped closer to him and defiantly raised her face to look him square in the eye. She had to slap herself from the reverie of staring into such a beautiful blue . . .

"Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving, Mister . . .?"

"Castle. Richard Castle, but please call me Rick." Rick held out his hand for her to shake, which she took hesitantly.

"Beckett. Katherine Beckett, but call me Kate. You know, you look familiar from Psychology; now I realize you're the guy who's been cheating off of me. This is my friend, Lanie Parish." Lanie shook Rick's hand without a second thought and put a huge smile on her face.

"Hey there, good-looking. You sing?"

"I sure do. Would you like to hear a little something?" Lanie eagerly nodded, but Kate stood completely unamused leaning against the piano. "New or old musical?"

"Surprise me," Lanie responded as she sat back on the piano bench opposite Kate, still firmly unyielding to Rick's charms.

 _"They call you Lady Luck, but there is room for doubt . . . Luck be a lady tonight. Luck be a lady tonight. Luck if you've ever been a lady to begin with, luck be a lady tonight!"_

Okay, Kate had to admit, he was pretty good. Maybe that was just his style of song, and he wanted to show off. But he was kind of attractive singing that song. She could totally see him as Sky Masterson with his manliness and charm and— _what?_

"Not half bad, stud," Kate mused after he belted out his last note. "Sing something from the show now." Rick nodded with a wink and leaped into the chorus of "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" with a grandiose flair and sang directly to Lanie.

 _"For I'm falling in love with someone, some one girl. I'm falling in love with someone, head a whirl . . . I'm sure I could love someone madly, if someone would only love me."_

Lanie nearly bounced off of her seat in excitement hearing Rick sing because his voice indeed fit Trevor perfectly. Kate, on the other hand, remained passive as she listened to him but was pleasantly surprised that he could sing so well. Lanie clapped for him, and Rick took a huge bow for Lanie, purposely flaunting his ass in front of Kate when he bent over.

"How about you, Kate? What did you think?" Kate leaned against the piano and sighed deeply.

"Well, you sing Trevor pretty well, but I think you're more of a Jimmy. Womanizer, Casanova, always gets what he wants. Practically fits you to a T." Rick stepped closer to Kate, a faint hint of a challenge in his eyes.

"Is that so?" Kate nodded and moved away when Rick got closer. "Well, from what I can tell, Millie seems a lot like you as well. Headstrong, independent, but very naïve sometimes too. Maybe we might just end up being cast together."

"In your dreams," Kate scoffed and took another step backwards but found herself cornered against the piano.

"Stranger things have happened. You never know what the people in there will think. Anyway, it might be fate that brought us together and a sign of our future together. And actually, in my dreams, I imagine you—" Kate clamped her hand over his mouth and pushed Rick towards the door.

"The future I see with you is nonexistent, Mr. Castle. Now, if you would show yourself out so I can practice, that would be very much appreciated." Rick stopped in the doorway and turned back to Kate. The two met each other's gaze and intently locked eyes, once again lost in a swirling sea of too-perfect blue.

"Well—"

"Well," Kate cleared her throat and opened the door for Rick.

"It was nice to have met you, Katherine Beckett." Before he left, Rick leaned in to her and kissed Kate on the cheek. A soft little peck, but the smolder in his eyes as he left her standing in the doorway stunned did her in. When Rick left her eyesight, her jaw dropped to the floor for two totally opposing reasons, but both made her want to scream.

Lanie's squeal broke Kate out of her trance, and she turned back to her overly excited friend. _He did not just do that,_ Kate thought.

"Girl, get you some! _Please_ tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking."

"I can't believe he is such an _asshole_! On second thought, I can." Kate stormed away from the door and groaned as she slumped onto the piano bench. Lanie pulled her seat closer to Kate's and wrapped a comforting arm around her best friend.

"Honey, forget about him. He's _one_ guy, so don't let him get you down." After a pause with no response from Kate, Lanie voiced her observation sure to get a rise from her friend. "I think he only acted that way because he _likes_ you." Lanie playfully nudged Kate, but she refused to smile still and turned away from her.

"Lanie, your internship must be making you inhale way too many hospital chemicals! I think you might be high."

"Look who's talking! I saw the way you two looked at each other right before he kissed you, so don't even _try_ to deny that connection you've got." Kate turned back to Lanie and rolled her eyes.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'tension,' Lanie," Kate corrected, and Lanie shook her head in disbelief.

"Yeah, 'tension' of another nature," she muttered to herself knowing Kate could hear. Kate indignantly stood up and grabbed her sheet music, thrusting it towards Lanie.

"Come on, Lanie, let's _practice_." Lanie and Kate rotated singing and critiquing each other for a while, both with eyes set on the parts they desired.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, Rick sat outside the practice room, mesmerized by listening to his extraordinary Kate sing. When the girls took a break to listen to the rest of the soundtrack, he started to hum the tune to "What Do I Need with Love," Jimmy's big song. Thinking it over more and more, what if this could be the perfect part for him?

 _"Although I hardly know you, I've a funny feeling we'd make a perfect pair . . ."_

* * *

I'm back, everyone! Preparing for college has kept me off for a while, but I have another new story for you! In case you didn't see my pen name change, I was originally AngelBaby214, but I'm here now as It'sMe-AshleyMarie. This was a chapter I started a long time ago but never got around to finishing, but here it is finally!

This past March, I was actually in _Millie_ as Mrs. Meers, the most unlikely part you could see me in, but it was the funnest role I have ever played! I hope you enjoy this story!

Yours Always,

Ashley Marie.


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